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Newsletter - DECEMBER 2002
Dear Homeowners:
In an effort to more effectively keep New
Haven Owners up-to-date, the Board has authorized a Newsletter and a Newsletter
Committee to publish quarterly.
Your suggestions to enhance this effort are invited. Please
feel free to contact Harvey Silverman, Liz Poulson or Allen Salowe.
We will publish items of community interest, news from the Board, an “Ask the Board” column, and all invite Owners should feel free to submit “short” items for publication.
The Committee needs more members who wish to help publish the Newsletter. Please contact a Board member or a Newsletter Committee member to offer your services.
Newsletter
Committee members are:
Harvey
Silverman:
691-4788 e-mail hsilver2002@yahoo.com
Liz
Poulson:
630-3643 e-mail tomandliz@adelphia.net
Allen
Salowe:
799-6987 e-mail asalowe@adelphia.net
Message
from the President:
Dear Neighbors,
This is the first edition of the New Haven at Abacoa
newsletter. I am eternally grateful to Harvey Silverman and his staff who
stepped forward and took the reigns on this project. Without them and the
support of the New Haven HOA Board, this project would not have gotten off the
ground.
The concept of our newsletter was born out of a need to
better communicate with you, our fellow neighbors, in New Haven. Unlike the
Abacoa newsletter, that is produced and overseen by the
developer, our newsletter will provide information about
issues that affect you directly as a homeowner. Many of the issues and topics
covered in our publication would never be published in the Abacoa newsletter.
In addition, there are issues that need to be communicated to you that involve
the POA, the developer and our contractors that should be communicated in this
format and not in the developer’s newsletter.
The election of the current Board of Directors took place one year ago. Speaking on behalf of the Board, I feel comfortable in saying that none of us could have anticipated the scope or extent of the job requirements attached to being a Board member. As many of you know, I have owned and operated a company for fifteen years. The overall operation and day-to-day requirements needed to oversee and operate a development of this size mirrors running a small company. As a Board we:
As a Board we work diligently to help keep the quality of
life and your property values at the levels that you expect.
I would like to take this time to thank the Homeowners
Association Board of Directors for all of the hard work and tireless hours they
have put forth over the last year. The quality of personnel on our Board is
commendable. We, as homeowners,
are lucky to have a group of individuals that are committed and
tirelessly dedicated to the task at hand.
I would also like to thank all of the volunteers that make
up our various committees. Without them, many of the issues that arise in our
community would not be resolved. These committee members are also responsible
for community activities, the beautification of the community and fiscal issues
that affect us all. Thanks again to all of you who have made a difference in
our community this last year.
Some of the issues discussed in this newsletter and in
future newsletters are:
·
Your
POA
·
Irrigation
and how it works
·
Architectural
Control Committee
·
Management
company report
·
Public
versus private roads in New Haven
·
2003
budget
·
Upcoming
HOA Board election
·
Holiday
season
·
Tree
trimming
·
Landscaping
rules including side yard cutting policy
·
Board
policy on truck parking
·
Enhancement
programs: playgrounds, entrance landscaping, building landscaping
·
Clubhouse
use
·
Board
initiatives regarding the POA and warranty claims with the developer
·
Legal
The New Haven Board has earned quite
the reputation at Jupiter Town Hall. We are looked on as a Board of action that
works hard to maintain our standards. We are vocal and have high expectations.
I would not have it any other way. As a result of our actions and with the help
of many of you, we now have an active traffic control light at University and
Military. You all are to be commended. It was a tough battle, but we
persevered. The traffic light will help meet greater safety in our community
and better efficiency in exiting the community from University.
Another area of concern that Harvey
Silverman and I have been chasing is the magnitude of the ongoing fees paid to
the POA that we all pay as part of our quarterly assessment. Harvey took on the
task of investigating the POA infrastructure and accounting practices. For
those of you
who don't
know Harvey, he is more than qualified for the task given
his extensive career with the IRS. Harvey is also on our finance committee. I
would like to thank Harvey again for his efforts. New Haven took the lead and
we are well into our investigation. We have found that total administrative
fees paid to the POA far exceed those paid by similar sized planned
communities.
For the New Haven HOA to have clout
in filing any claim, we felt it would be most useful to have the other HOA
Boards in Abacoa on board with us. That decision led to forming the Abacoa
Coalition. The Abacoa Coalition is made up of the presidents of the current
five HOA Boards. The Coalition meets to discuss matters that impact all
homeowners. As we move forward with the investigation of the POA costs, we will
be asking the Board members from all Abacoa HOAs to participate and move
forward to help resolve this apparent injustice.
The Board is also investigating
warranty claims and design issues related to the irrigation system. We have had
an outside engineering study done and have found that although the piping and
delivery systems seem to conform with customary standards, the mechanical
system that regulates the flow and distribution of the water is stressed to its
allowable limits. This means that the system needs constant monitoring to
efficiently deliver the water that we require. Simply put, the original water
distribution system was not properly engineered as a whole within Abacoa. As a
result, because of our location within the system, our monitoring and delivery
system requires daily hands on tuning. We believe that a resolution must be
found and we feel that the cost of that resolution rests on New Haven developer
DiVosta Homes. This problem will not go away if we don't fix it. We have filed
our intent with DiVosta. The Board had one year from takeover to file any
claims. We will keep you posted on our progress.
We have been a busy Board and as we
close our first year as a Board, I have great expectations for the years to
come.
I would like to wish all of you a safe and happy holiday
season for you and your families.
Best
regards,
Tom
Osborne, President
HOA New
Haven at Abacoa
What is a Deed Restricted Community?
By Allen
Salowe
The free-market
encourages property owners to pursue their interest in a voluntary, cooperative
manner, yet also provides a means to ensure predictability in property use.
That mechanism is deed restrictions.
Deed restrictions are contractual agreements made between
property owners restricting land to a particular use. Deed restrictions can
restrict the use of a piece of property as well as govern such features as the
presence and dimensions of trees, fencing heights, or the color of a home. In
most communities, an association made up of homeowners enforces the deed
restrictions.
The benefits of community association
living include:
But also, community association living require:
Some residents become disillusioned
failing to distinguish between a previously owned single-family home in a
suburban neighborhood and the new deed-restricted home. Also, they may fail to
understand they give up some of their property rights in exchange for wonderful
amenities and protection of property value.
Most persons tend to be at ease with
covenants and restrictions (C&R) living and they help maintain a spirit of
harmony and cooperation. A few people become unhappy with deed-restricted
living and decide to move on.
Many people see little difference
between zoning and deed restrictions, between zoning officials and a
homeowners' association. Zoning is political and mandatory, while deed
restrictions are contractual and based on free choice.
Amending the deed restrictions is
not an automatic matter. The governing documents (commonly referred to as the
covenants and restrictions and signed for by each purchaser) set forth that the
deed restrictions may only be amended as defined in the governing documents
including the Florida Articles of Incorporation. Such amendments
require a vote of the membership as well as a majority vote
of Board members.
Master-planned
communities, like ABACOA and the New Haven Homeowner Association (HOA)
neighborhoods are more comprehensive than small subdivisions, and more
restrictive in land use. Some people value the unity of neighborhood design
enough to pay the higher prices for land and community fees that exist in such
master-planned communities and welcome the protection of their investment.
ABACOA Property
Owners Assembly (POA)
By Harvey
Silverman
There have been many questions about the relationship of the
New Haven Homeowners Association, the Property Owners Assembly (POA), DiVosta
Homes, and the Master Developer of ABACOA.
The POA maintains all of the common property in ABACOA that
is not located within a Homeowners Association or a Commercial District. This
primarily includes all major arterial roads in and around ABACOA, such as
Central Boulevard, University Drive, Donald Ross Road, Frederick Small Road,
traffic circles, and the entranceway features.
All ABACOA Owners and Commercial Properties share the POA
expenses. Homeowners pay approximately 80% of the cost of the POA. The POA
budget for 2002 exceeds $1 million.
The expense of operating the POA is the second largest line
item in the New Haven Budget, at more than $120,000 for fiscal year 2002. This
translates to $237.00 for each New Haven Owner.
The ABACOA Master Developer, the ABACOA DEVELOPMENT
CORPORATION, (ADC) which in turn is owned by Cypress Realty of Houston Texas,
presently controls the POA. The POA president is Nader Salour and all the
officers and directors of the POA are employees of ADC, the Master
Developer. The POA has no employees and
all expenses to operate the POA, except those paid to outside contractors, are
reimbursements for services performed by ADC, the Master Developer. These
reimbursements will exceed $150,000.00 annually.
Some Owners mistakenly believe that DiVosta Homes is the developer of ABACOA. This is not the case. DiVosta purchased the land for New Haven from ADC. DiVosta built our New Haven Community as a sub-developer, and is no longer directly involved in the management of New Haven. DiVosta has no role in the management of the POA.
The Master Developer ADC
remains in control of the Property Owners Assembly until all land in ABACOA is
sold.
Landscape Maintenance
By Liz Poulson
No, it wasn't corn and it's not Oklahoma. But the
grass in New Haven did get pretty high in October and November. Several
factors contributed to this.The contract with Total Maintenance provides for more frequent cuttings during
the growing season. Thus, during April through September the grass is cut
at least 4 times each month. Fewer cuttings are scheduled during
the slower growing months so that during January and February the grass will be
cut a minimum of two times monthly. October, November, and December is
scheduled for a minimum of three cuts monthly.
During October, Mother Nature did not read the contract and after Total
Maintenance fertilized, she kept the weather warm
and watered. The result was that the grass grew enthusiastically
during an assumed "slower" growing time. It has happened before
and undoubtedly will again. It is possible to modify the landscape
contract to have more cuts each month or as needed but each additional cutting
ends up adding significant cost. The Board opted not to place this additional
financial burden on homeowners in October.
How to
Ask Questions and Give Feedback?
The New Haven @ Abacoa Newsletter is your publication. Initially, it will be published quarterly and distributed with the quarterly assessment invoices.
We are looking for questions from Owners to help stimulate
participation and discussion. Our goal is to help facilitate greater community understanding
among New Haven Owners.
You can send your questions or feedback to us through the
New Haven web page bulletin board www.bristolmanagement.com and then click on New Haven. Bristol has
also agreed to take brief questions or feedback by telephone as well. We
will try to address your question in an upcoming issue.
Landscape
Responsibilities
By Beth Goin
The most confusing issue
for most homeowners is in regard to landscaping responsibilities. Because the documents refer to imaginary
lines, it can be overwhelming. There are
three different models used for defining maintenance responsibilities. This information can be found in your
Association documents beginning on page 18, Article VIII Maintenance. Anyone
that owns a single-family home has landscape maintenance responsibilities. The
area that is questioned the most is the side yards. The Association does not
maintain this area. Anyone wishing to engage the associations landscape
contractor to maintain this area can call 561-844-2744, to schedule service.
Regardless of what model
type you live in, please note that the Association is responsible for only the
materials that were part of the original installation. Anything planted by a homeowner, regardless
of location, is the owner’s responsibility to maintain. If landscape material planted in an area
that the Association maintains but planted by the homeowner dies, it will be
removed. The Association will not
replace plant material in that area.
If you have any plant
material that is located in an area that the Association maintains, and it
needs attention, please call Bristol Management Services, Customer Service
Department and place a work order.
BRISTOL MANAGEMENT can be reached by phone at 561-575-3551, fax at 561-575-5423 or email at www.bristolmanagement.com. We strongly encourage Owners to visit our Web Site where Rental/Resale Applications and New Haven at Abacoa HOA Rules and Regulations can be downloaded for your convenience.
BRISTOL MANAGEMENT SERVICES, INC.
1930 Commerce Lane, Suite 1
Jupiter, FL 33458
(561) 575-3551 FAX (561) 575-5423
1-800-340-4546
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